Burciaga Named SLC Women’s Cross Country Athlete of the Week

FRISCO, Texas – Texas A&M – Corpus Christi senior Kristine Burciaga has been named the Southland Conference Women'sCross Country Athlete of the Week, announced by the conference today.

"She had a really great run this last weekend," head coach Shawn Flanagan said. "She has made a remarkable improvement in the last year or two and she has evolved into a real team leader."

In her first race of the season at the Rio Grande Valley Classic, hosted by Texas Pan-American, Burciaga teamed up with senior Julia Sambu on Friday to take the top spot at the race against 11 other relay teams.

After finishing in second place last season, the San Antonio, native, along with Sambu, ran the eight-mile race with a time of 44:02. The two had an impressive run at the event, finishing 11 seconds ahead of a pair of UTPA runners, who finished in second in 44:13.

The No. 7-ranked Islanders women's cross country team claimed four of the top five spots at the race.

This is Burciaga's first Southland Conference weekly honor. She is the first Islander female to win the award since Anne Ronoh earned the honor in 2008.

On the men's side, freshman Paul Hansel, received honorable mention accolades for his second place finish with senior Jeremy Juarez in the 12-mile relay race at the RGV Classic. The freshman-senior duo finished with a time of 37:53 behind two Islanders who crossed the line in 37:36.

The Islanders will next be in action on Fri., Sept. 16, in Houston, Texas, at the Rice Invite.